Ever since she was little, Saori never learned about peace. She was raised and trained as a soldier. Life for her was the battlefield. All above the motto 'vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas'. Even so, to protect hime, Misaki, Hiyori, and Azusa, she pushed on. She endured those hellish and hateful days of being misled by Beatrice. She took all of them in order to survive. Looking back now, she wished that only she could turn around time and erased those black memories. Regardless, what happened happened, it was impossible to change it. What she could do was not think about it too deeply. At the present, she turned her attention towards the little girl that she "took". A young girl with fluffy ears drooped while holding back tears as she was clearly afraid Saori gonna shut her off for good. Fear, anxiousness, and confusion mixed together on her tiny face.

In silence, her blue eyes stared at the small figure. It reflected her heart which is now raging with guilt. Truthfully, she had been feeling it ever since she grabbed Kokona to be her meat shield. She understood that she acted on instinct, but she cursed herself for panicking and desperate.

"Hey."

Her muffled and rough voice called for Kokona, and it raised one of her fluffy ears before she turned to face Saori. Saori took a deep breath before speaking.

"I have an escape plan, but if this fails we are doomed."

"Tell me about the plan, onee-san."

Calmly and carefully, she listened to Saori's plan. Saori actually paid attention to Kokona's expression. Her eyebrows knitted, and her left hand was holding up her right hand as she put her index finger and thumb beneath her chin. She nodded every once in a while just to make sure she listened to what Saori had said. Whether she actually understood or not, Saori would not repeat them.

"Well, do you agree with my plan?"

Saori waited for an answer from Kokona while holding her rifle tightly. If Kokona refused, then she would just buy time for Kokona to escape by herself while she fought the entire mob. Saori thought that at least she could atone for her mistake by doing so.

"Okay, I accept."

"Eh?"

Saori's eyes widened when she heard Kokona accepts her suggestion. Although Kokona was trembling, she bit her lip hard while kept nodding.

"You sure you are fine? I won't force you, you know."

Kokona nodded her head rapidly.

"I will be fine. I admit I am scared, but I also want to go home. If onee-san's plan can get me back home, I will do as you say. I didn't listen to my nee-san's advice, so now I paid the price."

This picked Saori's interest.

"You have an elder sister?"

Kokona nodded with a smile.

"My elder sister is a caring, mature, beautiful, tall, and responsible person. Because of that, I want to become an instructor just like her, but I didn't go home as soon as possible and play at the park instead. In the end, onee-san kidnapped me."

"About tha-"

"But my sister and Sensei told me this too, that adults are not crybabies. Since I want to be an adult woman, I mustn't look weak. I am going to find a way out and say sorry to my sis. That's why…"

Kokona clasped both of Saori's hands together.

"...Kokona believes onee-san will take me home."

Saori shook her head while sighing. A small smile curled up as she thought of how innocent and naive this little girl that was raised in a peaceful environment. She just believed easily to a stranger who pretty much kidnapped her, and might potentially lying about the exit and actually colluding with the mobs. But, her gaze was what reminded Saori of the squad. A look of trust. Saori nodded.

"Okay. Let's start with the preparation."

Saori brought out a bundle of rope from her pocket. Kokona gulped nervously before Saori tied her arms and took away her gun.

"Don't worry. I will bring it with me."

Kokona powerlessly nodded.

"When they taunt us again, you go out while fake crying. I will give a signal when the plan commences. More importantly, don't ever go too far from the entrance and keep your distance from them, got it?"

"Okay."

"Good girl."

On reflex, Saori tapped Kokona's head before taking off through the emergency door. Kokona rubbed the place Saori just tapped and smiled. She looked at the steel door that Saori just went off to before getting ready near the entrance of the building.

Outside, the chasers had grown restless due to their incapability of capturing Saori. They could not find her, and they were getting desperate. Some suggested just storming inside, but the cautious ones reminded them if Saori had set up traps.

"HEY BASTARD! GET OUT NOW! THIS WILD GOOSE CHASE IS OVER!"

"YEAH! WE NEED TO GO BACK FOR OUR SHIFT TOO!"

Angry taunts and insults were being thrown. Kokona could hear her own heartbeat getting louder and her feet trembling again. She took a deep breath, before bracing herself to go out. She didn't forget to start crying as well.

"HUAAAAAA NEE-SAN!"

The moment they heard Kokona's cry, all of the voices went silent. Some raised their weapons, but some pointed them down again when they saw the little girl walking out with her hands tied. Seeing a little girl crying was enough to shake some of their convictions.

"I WANNA GO HOME!"

"SHUT UP! WHERE IS SHE?"

"HUAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Hey stop! She won't talk if you make her cry harder!"

One of the part-timers held the thug's gun. The thug didn't take kindly to that as she rudely shove the part-timer out of her way.

"You stay out of this! This brat must have known where that merc goes! NOW TALK!"

"I-I DON'T KNOW! HUAAA!"

"STOP CRYING OR I SHOOT YOUR MOUTH!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! SHE IS JUST A KID!"

"WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON, HAH!?"

Both sides started to argue with each other. With every passing second, Kokona's heart beat faster. In her mind, she screamed so loud for Saori to start the plan soon. She had a small thought that Saori would just abandon her. While taking away her gun too.

"No. If onee-san was going to leave me, she would have done that since long time ago!"

As if on cue, a grenade fell in front of her.

"Dodge."

"Eh?"

A series of thunderous explosions roared from every building and underground in the area. This created a chaotic mess as the chasers frantically tried to save themselves. As Kokona tried to get herself together, a hand grabbed her waist and lifted her up.

"We go."

Kokona looked up to see the azure eyes and the black mask of the person she had been waiting for. Through the smoke and crowds, Saori carried Kokona with her right hand as she threw smoke grenades to cover her tracks.

"Onee-san!"

"Sorry, I am late. I need to keep my feet working for this and I don't have my usual stuff to help us. We are close to safety now."

Holding out the pain beneath her mask, Saori kept carrying Kokona toward the station. When the station was in sight, she put her down and untied her. She didn't forget to give Kokona's gun too.

"I promised, didn't I."

"Hm. Thank you"

"You are safe now. Take the train and go home."

Saori hid her face by pulling down her cap. When she turned around to leave, her right glove once again felt the same warm she had felt for the past few minutes. She looked at Kokona, smiling and squeezing her hand with vigor.

"Thank you, onee-san. Please take care of yourself."

"Right..."

She returned the squeeze as she nodded. Sadly, their wholesome moment got interrupted by noisy footsteps and gunshots.

"Man, these guys just don't know when to quit! Quick, get out of here!"

"Come with me, onee-san!"

Saori shook her head to respond to Kokona's plea.

"I am sorry, but I can't. Our worlds are completely different, and I will only bring you more trouble if I stay with you. Goodbye!"

Saori took off and this directed the thugs to follow her instead until they were nowhere near the station. Kokona was about to run to follow Saori, but she relented and ran towards the station instead. At every step, she could not stop praying for Saori's safety. A few minutes later, Saori could see a train departing the station.

"You are safe now, little one."

She stopped running and threw the final grenade she had left as she jumped off the building to escape from the remaining chasers.